Never to Forever
by LoricVampire Hybrid
Summary: A series of Steroline one-shots taking place at random points during seasons 2-6. Some will only be friendship because they're amazing like that too.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is my first ever FanFic and I'm hoping you'll like it! Please R &R, constructive criticism is welcomed too.**

 **This is set after Caroline becomes a vampire and Stefan is helping her get to grips with it.**

 **Disclaimer: In my head I own The Vampire Diaries. In reality I don't.**

Veins were pulsating under her skin as the steady flow of blood rushed around her body at every booming heartbeat. Caroline could hear it as loud as she could hear the cars outside, maybe even louder, and the blood smelled nicer then the Mystic Falls Bakery did on a Sunday morning. One bite to the neck and it would all be hers… one bite and her mother's feeble, human body would shut down and the prize would be hers…

"Caroline?" Liz asked anxiously. Caroline reluctantly pulled her hunger-filled eyes away from her mother's carotid artery. "Are you okay? What's going on with you lately?"

"Nothing, mom." She lied, raising her voice above the heartbeat, trying to drown it out. "I'm fine."

"Honey, you can tell me. Is it Matt? Elena and Bonnie? Your father?"

"No! Mom, seriously, everything's fine." She couldn't tell Liz the truth, she knew that. Stefan had filled her in on the Founder's Council that she would one day be expected to become a part of. The Council that her mom led and would drive a stake through her dead heart without wasting half a second to think about it.

"Oh really, because you were screaming in your sleep last night." Liz shot back, as good with her words as she was her gun. Caroline flinched and turned away, memories of last night rushing through her head like a wild, uncontrollable, fast-flowing river. Her murder by Katherine and the memories of Damon using her as his human blood bag had been too much to handle and the more she shut them out, the more revenge they got as they plagued her in the form of nightmares. She opened her mouth to give a reply she was still frantically racking her brains for but was luckily saved as the doorbell's cheerful chiming echoed through the house. She hurried to the front door, willing to pay her rescuer a hundred dollars if it meant getting away from her mother's suspicious, penetrating eyes.

Of course, her saviour was Stefan. It always was these days. Not that she was complaining.

"Hello Miss Forbes, Caroline." He greeted, eternally polite and well mannered. With his famous hero hair shining in the sunlight, he even looked like Caroline's guardian angel.

"Call me Liz. It's nice to see you, Stefan." Liz said, coming to stand directly behind Caroline. Too close. As the powerful smell of blood overwhelmed her once more, Stefan heard her take a gasping breath.

"I was wondering if we could get something to eat?" he asked her quickly. The faster they got out of this house and away from human hearts the better. Sadly, his code for hunting only worsened the situation, the word 'eat' tempting out the veins beneath her eyes and her fangs erupted out of her gums. She tilted her head down, blonde curls covering her face from Liz. Stefan raised a hand to his lips and pretended to stifle a cough before whispering "Deep breaths, Care," so low only she could hear him with her vampire skills. She did so, closing her eyes and focusing her energy on resisting. Crisis averted, she raised her head.

"Sure let's go." She grabbed her bag and left without looking back, leaving a hurt and bewildered Liz standing at the doorway.

* * *

"Chase, catch, feed." Caroline recited in a whisper, the perfect student, as she watched the grey fluffy rabbit in front nibble at the pea green grass under its nose, completely oblivious to the two predators behind about to pounce. It still felt wrong, though. Maybe the rabbit had a family of baby bunnies, snuggled up together underground waiting for it to come back home to them.

"You'll stop me before I kill it?" She asked him softly.

"Of course I will." He promised her, placing and encouraging hand on her back and nudging her forward towards her pray. Assured that Stefan wouldn't let anything happen, she leapt out at it, burying her aching fangs into its side. She momentarily gagged on the taste of its fur but was soon gulping down its blood as if it were chocolate sauce.

"Caroline. That's enough." She vaguely heard Stefan's voice behind her but couldn't tear herself away, she was so hungry. Suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulders and pushed her behind him. She fought against his grip for a second or two before calming down, her teeth receding back into her gums.

"Thank you." She said gratefully once she trusted herself to open her mouth.

"It's okay. It will take a while to learn complete control. I still can't control it." Stefan admitted, looking down.

"Yeah, and you're like, a hundred." Caroline joked.

"One hundred and sixty-six actually." He corrected her, a rare smile crossing over his face.

"And you're still pretty good looking." She acknowledged.

"It's definitely one of the perks of vampirism." He laughed, the skin around his eyes crinkled and his green eyes shining. "It's going to get easier." Caroline nodded.

"I know. It's going to be a fun couple of centuries."

 **Thank you so much for reading this. Tell me what you think in the reviews. Alternatively, you could fangirl/boy over Steroline. I'm completely okay with that too.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading the last chapter. This one is set in season 2 when Stefan is stuck in the tomb with Katherine. Please review!**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

"Stefan? Stefan, are you here?" Caroline called, her nervous high pitched voice echoing against the mossy, damp walls of the tomb under Fell's Church. For weeks she had been terrified of Katherine and her hold over Matt, herself and everyone else she had threatened and here she was, practically walking into the lion's den.

"Where else would I be?" Stefan asked dryly, slowly sitting himself up against the wall, his muscled arms visibly quivering at the effort. Caroline moved forwards and sat as close as she could to him without crossing the line blocking him and the evil doppelganger away from the chaos that is Mystic Falls.

"Fair point." She acknowledged. She glanced around him and into the looming darkness of the tomb behind him containing the monster that had been haunting her for weeks on end. "Is Katherine…?"

"Nice to see you again, blondie." Katherine drawled, feebly stepping out of the shadows, dragging her tanned, slender hand along the wall to support herself, the absence of blood from her system clearly noticeable.

"Katherine." Caroline snarled at her. "Are you going to be desiccating anytime soon? It's really getting tiring, trying to talk to Stefan while you're hanging around like a lost puppy." Katherine's features changed from taunting to angry, her brown eyes glistening.

"When I get out of here I am going to…" She began to threaten menacingly before being interrupted by an exhausted Stefan.

"You aren't going to get out of here, Katherine." Stefan told her. Katherine opened her mouth to make some retort before closing it again. Not wanting to admit that Stefan was right, she staggered back into the darkness and disappearing from view. Stefan leant back against the wall and Caroline breathed a sigh of relief as she glanced back at her exhausted best friend whose eyes were closed in an attempt to preserve the small amount of strength he had left.

Standing up and wiping her dust covered hands on her jeans, Caroline crossed the tomb to where she had left her brown, leather bag and carried it back towards Stefan who was watching her anxiously.

"Caroline? Where are you going?" He asked her. She couldn't leave him, not yet. He didn't want to walk back to the depths of the tomb and face his psychotic ex-girlfriend who he had assumed was dead for the last century and a half.

"Of course not. Damon told me to give you this though." As she sat back down, she pulled a bottle out and held it up for him to see. "Don't worry, it's rabbit."

Stefan gazed longingly at the bottle glinting in the tiny amount of sunshine that managed to reach them, veins crawling their way down his face in jagged, purple lines. The whites of his eyes grew darker and darker until they were the shade of the blood his attention was captivated by. His teeth extended in the middle of a hungry, guttural growl, the kind of growl a bear makes before it pounces on its unsuspecting prey. Caroline held the bottle out towards him but just before it crossed the border, he came to his senses and shook his head, slowly backing away.

"If I take that I'll need to share it with Katherine. I can't do that, Caroline."

"That reminds me, I've got a message from Damon for you. He doesn't give a damn about what your jealous ex does, just drink the bunny blood. Besides, she's not here. Drink fast." She pushed it over the border and pressed it into his hand before pulling back, thankful to find she was still able to get her hand out. Stefan grinned at her and pressed the bottle to his lips, draining the bottle in a matter of seconds before passing it back and resting his head against the wall, enjoying the newfound strength. "Much better." Caroline smiled, watching Stefan's colour return and a satisfied smile spread across his face.

"Yeah, I really needed that." Stefan agreed, turning his forest green eyes back to his best friend. "Sorry, I was planning on saving you some but…"

"It's fine. I'm well aware of your blood-oholic tendencies." There was a pause, before Caroline looked up again, her eyes full of guilt for what her friend was going through. "We're going to get you out of here, I promise. Bonnie's probably already working on it." She reassured him optimistically.

"I know you're doing everything you can. Just tell Damon and Elena I miss them." Caroline nodded empathetically, knowing it was hard for Stefan not knowing what was going on and whether his family and friends were safe or not.

"I will. They're doing okay though, Damon's doing what you asked, for once, and looking after Elena. Stopping her from doing anything suicidal."

"And you? Is anyone looking out for you? "Stefan asked quietly. Caroline hesitated for a moment.

"I'm fine." She replied. "I'm not the one on a crazy suicide mission like Elena."

"Caroline, you did hear the part where Klaus needs a vampire for the sacrifice, didn't you?" he questioned cautiously. "Elena's not the only one in danger here. She's not the only one I want to keep safe and I'm doing a great job locked up in here."

Caroline cautiously placed a hand across the invisible line separating them, careful to keep her body on the other side and gently intertwining hers with his. Their eyes met and she smiled shyly up at him. She was still amazed that she had him for a friend.

"I'm going to be okay too. Don't worry about me."

"You really are a delusional optimist." Stefan teased her.

"I am and I'm going to stay that way until I get you back. I need you to come back, Stefan."

"Then I'll come back to you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: This is after Season 3's Our Town where Caroline has just been bitten by Tyler and saved by Klaus and Stefan just threatened to drive Elena of Wickery Bridge. I decided there weren't nearly enough Steroline scenes in Season 3.**

 **Disclaimer: If I could compel myself The Vampire Diaries I would. Sadly I can't and therefore don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

"Liz?" Stefan called through the Forbes doorway. "Liz, where are you?" he knocked on the door he had already flung open to make as much racket as he possibly could, continuing to call for Caroline and her mother. Finally, he heard the welcoming sound of a thumping heartbeat coming round the corner and the Sheriff stood in the hallway, her hand wavering on her hip where Stefan knew she kept her gun.

"What do you want, Stefan? I'm not in the mood to make deals about Hybrids and murderous Originals." She snapped angrily. There were dark circles under her eyes, exhaustion and worry written upon her face in the form of wrinkles. Behind her, Stefan could see a brightly coloured birthday sign clashing with the glum mood of the Forbes's household.

"Damon told me what happened to Caroline today. I wanted to make sure she was okay." Stefan said honestly, watching Liz's expression hopefully, willing for her to trust him despite everything he had done recently and cursing the vervain that was running through her system, protecting her from his compulsion.

"She's resting. If you want her to recover I suggest you stop shouting and let her sleep." She requested, her finger still pressed against the trigger of her gun, ready to shoot at a second's notice.

"Liz, please. She's my friend. Just let me see her." He pleaded. Liz studied his face carefully, deciding whether or not to trust him. Eventually she did and opened her mouth, inviting him in in a quavering voice. Stefan thanked her and stepped over the threshold before making his way to Caroline's room.

His best friend was lying asleep, her body curled up making her seem small and vulnerable. Blood was still caked over her neck from her werewolf bite. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this close to her. He couldn't even remember being in the same room as her recently. So much for the promise he had made to her that night she turned, when he had told her he would look after her and that nothing would happen to her. He'd failed miserably in that challenge.

He turned to the bathroom across the hall, and pulled a flannel out of the cupboard, soaking it with warm water before returning and gently sitting beside her. He dabbed her neck softly, the blood rubbing away leaving her delicate, pearly neck exposed. He moved his hand to her face, gently brushing away a blonde lock of her hair off her cheek. The sudden movement stirred her and her blue eyes fluttered open. She blinked a couple of times to focus on Stefan's face swimming above her, not sure whether it was a hallucination or real.

"Stefan?" She croaked, her voice hoarse.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked softly as she slowly sat up, massaging her forehead. She nodded slowly.

"Better. I'm not hallucinating you, am I?" Stefan laughed and shook his head.

"No. I'm really here."

"Why?"

"It's your birthday. Where else would I be?" he told her. Caroline shook her head and looked down at her clasped hands.

"Yeah, you've been around loads lately." She scoffed sarcastically. "You've been a great friend." Stefan winced; Caroline's the words were like a stake driving into his heart. Nothing had hurt this much for weeks, ever since he had turned his emotions off he had been immune to his friends angry comments but it pained him to hear the betrayal in Caroline's voice.

"I'm sorry, Care. You're right, I haven't been here. I'm going to make it up to you." He promised, willing her to believe him although he had given her no reason to.

"What's with the sudden change in attitude?" she asked curiously.

"I did something terrible tonight and I don't think Elena's going to be able to forgive me. I wouldn't even blame her for hating me." He confessed miserable, his emotion flooding through cracks in the mental wall he had put up around himself.

"She won't hate you." Caroline reassured him.

"You do." Stefan pointed out while she shook her head at him and place a pale hand gently on his shoulder.

"I don't hate you." She told him. "You left with Klaus to save your brother and I understand that. I'm sorry about what I said earlier, I didn't mean it I just missed you. I could have used my vampire mentor." Stefan was quiet while her words sunk in. she didn't hate him despite everything he'd done recently. He still had his best friend. Suddenly what happened with Elena didn't seem so bad anymore.

"No kidding." He joked. "You nearly died last night."

"Well, I wasn't expecting my boyfriend to try and kill me." She cried indignantly, not wanting to seem too vulnerable and go back to the dumb blonde stereotype.

"Your sired, hybrid boyfriend? What were you expecting?" He teased her, his eyebrow raised. Caroline glared at him, ineffectively trying to shove him before her features softened and a smile broke out across her face. As soon as their laughter ceased, she stood, leaving to go to the bathroom and get ready for school.

"I missed you too." Stefan whispered after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Thank you so much everyone for reading and reviewing this! This is set after 6x22 when Elena asked Caroline and Bonnie to write a diary. This is really short because I was too busy freaking out over exams and this seemed better and longer in my head but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries does not belong to me.

Dear Diary,

I'm writing this in honour of Elena so that when she awakens from her sleeping beauty like sleep she can read about every moment of mine and Bonnie's lives. When Bonnie dies. Even I can't put a positive spin on that. Even if I did get the lucky end of Kai's spell, I'm still going to watch both of my best friends grow old and wither away. Things aren't going to be the same anymore. There's going to be an empty bed in our dorm room where a missing friend should be and no more sleepovers with the three of us like we used to have all the time.

After I first turned, I had no idea what lay ahead for me. I imagined living two hundred years ahead of now surrounded by robots and spaceships in a beautiful house with more money than I knew what to do with. When Elena joined our small group of blood sucking anomalies, I picture us and the Salvatore brothers going to college after college, travelling across continents and oceans and living through history.

Now I see a dark, spiralling tunnel full of bloodshed, loss and death. My mom was my tie to humanity. I learnt to control my urges so she wouldn't see the monster inside and when she died I couldn't keep a grip on myself and I turned it off. But now I have another tie to my humanity.

In the darkness I see in my future, there is one constant light shining over my, protecting me. Stefan is that light, my own personal star. Before the time of GPS's, people used the stars as a navigation system to guide them back home and even though light pollution has made it harder to see them, you still can no matter what obstacles are in the way. Stefan was the one to guide me back after my killing spree and our friendship has survived multiple humanity flips, psychotic witches and an evil siphoner. He's always been there for me and I'm hoping he always will because I can't imagine a vampire life without Stefan Salvatore.

But I'm scared. I've done so many horrible things to him. I tried to kill his great, great something niece, forced him to flip his switch and then slept with him. He said he forgave me but has he really? How could he forgive me for all that so quickly?

But last night I went home for the first time since I got back. It was completely empty other than a few bits of basic furniture I brought while I was away after I sold everything and my voice echoed through the rooms. All mine and mom's photos were gone and none of our furniture was there but I didn't even care about those. I cared about the silence that was screaming in my ears and the memories that flashed in front of me. And then Stefan arrived. He basically told me he's fallen in love with me.

I've been waiting so long for those words to slip out of his mouth that I lost the ability to talk. I still can't believe it happened. When I first met him and began embarrassingly flirting with him he told me we were never going to happen. I got over it, not by choice, but from Damon's compulsion and after becoming a vampire I slowly began to fall for him again. Like him, I don't know how or when but by the time Damon and Bonnie died and he left I was in love with him and him not answering my calls when he replied to everyone else's was gradually destroying me. But I can't be like that. I can't fall apart whenever he's not around to heal me. I'm already broken enough. I need to get my life in order first and know that I can rely on myself because I don't think I can deal with any more heartbreak. I just really hope he does stick to his word and wait for me.

Elena, I could really use you for some girl talk right now. I miss you.

Caroline xxx


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Thank you so much everyone who reads and reviews this! This one is set in season 5 after they find out Bonnie died and Stefan has lost his memories and Caroline decides to help him get them back. (Let's pretend she already knew how to get into people's minds)**

 **Disclaimer: It's been on my Christmas list for years but I still don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

Stefan was standing in Caroline's dorm room absentmindedly twiddling the large lapis lazuli ring on his finger while gazing out of the window at the campus grounds bathed in darkness. He could hear the other students fooling around on their way back to their rooms and shouting happily but louder than all of that was their steady heartbeats pumping blood around their feeble human bodies. His gums began to ache as the sharp fangs emerged and the veins began spreading across his cheeks. He hoped Caroline would be back from the hospital with blood bags soon.

He paced around the large room to distract himself. He could easily tell which bed was Caroline's: the neatly made one without an item out of place in the corner. Elena's was the one next to it and the empty one on the far end of room which Caroline's eyes had flicked to every few minutes must be Bonnie's. The friend he couldn't even remember who'd died and broke her friends' hearts.

As he turned away his attention was captured by something else. A thick book was lying open on Caroline's bedside table which he recognised as a photo album. Glancing back at the door quickly, he decided that his friend wasn't going to be back anytime soon and started flicking through it, looking at photos of a young Caroline with straight blonde hair and small features that were stretched into a smile as she laughed with two people he assumed were her parents. As the girl in the photos grew, he recognised Elena and Bonnie cropping up regularly looking innocent and happy with their supernatural free life. Turning the page again, he saw a photo of himself and the three girls standing in front of a ginormous Christmas tree wrapped up in scarves and heavy coats. Caroline in the photo was holding up a small, trashy looking snow globe looking thoroughly displeased.

"You gave me that." Caroline was suddenly standing right next to him holding a carrier bag full of blood bags and pointing at the snow globe. "It was a secret Santa gift."

"Remind me to get you a better one next year." Stefan told her. "I must not be very good at secret Santa."

"No you weren't." She agreed laughing. "I can show you if you want." He looked up at her confused and she raised an eyebrow. "Did Damon not mention that we can get into people's minds?" Stefan shook his head.

"He was doing a giant history lesson. We got up to the late 90's" He explained. Caroline nodded and beckoned him over to sit on her bed. As he did so, she put her hands on his temples.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. All I have right now in my head is a giant mess of years and people I can't remember." She took a deep breath, focusing her energy, and suddenly it was Christmas.

* * *

A huge tree was in the middle of the parking lot and choirs were standing around it singing carols. Kids were running around everywhere throwing snowballs at each other and shrieking as they were hit square in the face. He could see Bonnie and Elena laughing together and then heard his own deep voice behind him.

"Merry Christmas, Caroline." The other version of him told her holding out a small box wrapped in red paper. She smiled brightly at him, taking the gift out of his hands.

"You're my secret Santa?" She asked. Stefan nodded.

"Go on, open it." He encouraged. The human Caroline tore the wrapping open and tried to cover up her disappointment with another smile.

"Mystic Falls." She said looking into the snowglobe. "Thanks, Stefan. It's pretty." As the memory ended, he experienced the feeling of falling down a deep hole as he came back to reality in the dorm room.

* * *

"That's all of the human me I can take." Caroline joked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. That's a really cool trick. Do you think you could do it again?" He asked. It had felt so good to see the memories that should still be his. Caroline smiled and put her hands gently on the sides of his face again and closed her eyes.

* * *

He looked around his new surroundings and saw that he was in an empty bathroom. The door swung open and a sobbing Caroline entered with himself behind her, guiding her to the sink where she immediately collapsed, her trembling hands clutching the edge of the sink until her knuckles turned white. Her face was covered in blood and tears, smudged makeup ran down her cheeks and more blood was caked in her hair. She looked incredibly different to the calm, cheerful Caroline he was getting used to.

"She hates me! Bonnie hates me." She cried as the other him pulled a handful of paper towels out of the holder.

"No, she's just in shock, we all are." He said, trying to reassure her.

"And what about Matt?" She panicked. Stefan turned her away from the mirror and towards him and started softly dabbing away the blood.

"Hush. One thing at a time, let's get this blood off, come on." He said calmingly, scrubbing her cheeks. Easier said than done, Stefan thought as another torrent of sobs slipped from her lips and she turned away from him, putting her pale, quivering hands up to her face.

"I'm a m-m-murderer! I'm a monster!" The other Stefan put a hand on her shoulder and tried to turn her back around.

"Look at me," he pleaded her, "Your emotions are heightened right now, it's part of the transformation, it's completely normal, I promise you okay?" Caroline, who wasn't really listening, was instead focused on the sight of her face changing in the mirror.

"Why does this keep happening to my face?" She wailed, spinning around and trying to ignore the monster in the mirror like she'd been trying to do since she woke up with her unquenchable thirst and razor sharp fangs.

"Look at me, look at me, Caroline! Caroline!" He tried desperately to capture her attention while letting his veins worm their way down from his eyes. "Look at my face. You see that? When you feel the blood rush in you tell yourself that you're going to get through it, that you're strong enough. No matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it off, you bury it. Watch me." She looked into his eyes as the red fades into forest green. "It's the only way you're gonna survive this thing. Try." She copied him, taking deep breaths and focusing on anything except the blood that was staining her clothes and hair.

"That's good" Memory Stefan said encouragingly.

"Why did Katherine do this to me?" She croaked, her voice still hoarse from crying.

"I don't know. I wish I did." He admitted. "Hey, I promise you I will not let anything happen to you. Come here." He took her into his arms, holding her head steady and keeping her close to him.

* * *

As the scene swirled into darkness around him, the bathroom was replaced by a forest and the smell of blood changed into clean, fresh air. Once again, Stefan saw himself and Caroline walking together through the trees but this time looking a lot happier than the last memory.

"So what do I do when I see the rabbit?" Caroline asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Chase it, catch it, feed on it." He explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Isn't killing cute, defenceless animals the first step in becoming a serial killer?" Caroline questioned him. Stefan chuckled.

"You sort of skipped serial killer and went straight to vampire." He replied honestly. "Caroline, if you're not serious about all of this you should tell me."

"No, I am." She answered quickly. "But it's just… I haven't been in the sun for days and everyone is at the swimming hole having fun and Matt is there! And he finally told me that he loved me but I have been blowing him off and now you want me to eat bunnies and I'm kind of freaking out okay?!" Both Stefans began to laugh at her dramatic speech. "And now you're laughing at me." She accused.

"No, no, I'm not laughing." He lied blatantly as he tried to supress his laughter. "None of this is funny, trust me. It's just that…"

"What?"

"When someone becomes a vampire, all of their natural behaviours get sort of amplified."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"I mean… as a human I cared deeply for people, how they felt. If they were hurting I felt their pain and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it and as a vampire all of that got… magnified." He told her.

"So you're saying that now I'm basically an insecure, neurotic control freak… on crack?" She asked feeling slightly insulted.

"Well, I wasn't gonna say it like that but…" Once again, the memory span out of Stefan's grasp.

* * *

He was standing outside a nicely sized house with pale yellow walls and a white panelled wall. Memory him was walking Caroline towards the house, glancing back at her anxiously.

"Is your mom home?" he asked. Caroline shook her head as she unlocked the front door.

"No, she's at work."

"I can come in if you want me too." He offered.

"I'm fine, Stefan." She told him sounding exhausted.

"You don't have to pretend with me." He replied, leaning against the doorway. "Anybody would be upset after what you went through tonight."

"I'm okay." She answered, her voice growing more determined. "I'm not girly little Caroline anymore, I can handle myself."

"I'm sure you can." Stefan smiled. It was funny, the way Damon described him it sounded like he never smiled or laughed but he always seemed to be smiling with Caroline.

Once again, the memory changed. Stefan was still standing on the porch but it was later on in the night. The other him was knocking on her door, peering through the curtain. Caroline opened up the door, wearing a black robe and looking half asleep.

"What's going on?"

"I was a bit worried about you, after everything you went through tonight." He said.

"I'm fine." She repeated.

"Good. But, just in case, I brought some back up." As if out of nowhere, Elena and Bonnie stepped through the doorway with rucksacks and blankets.

"We're gonna slumber it!" Elena said in explanation.

"We haven't done it in ages." Bonnie smiled. They both hugged her while Caroline buried her head in their shoulders and suddenly Stefan was back in her dorm room.

* * *

"Did that clear things up for you?" She asked him.

"Yeah it did." He replied. "I know why I trusted you now."

"What?"

"I knew as soon as I saw you that I could trust you even when I trusted no one else." He confessed. "Now I know why."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Once again, thank you for reviewing! Please keep on doing so! This is set in between season 5 and 6 when Stefan has moved away from Mystic Falls.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

"Hi Stefan." Caroline bubbly voice burst out the phone. "So, it's been nearly two months and you still haven't called me back so I guess you're busy trying to find Damon and Bonnie or something. I don't know but I do know that I miss you and I could really do with hearing your voice right now. We're not doing so well in Mystic Falls. Elena's a wreck without Bonnie but she refuses to talk about Damon, it's as if he never died." Stefan could almost hear her wince as she realised what she had just said. "I'm sorry, that was blunt. I just want to know where you are and that you're okay which is why I'm not going to stop calling you until you pick up. Please call me."

Stefan put the phone back on his table and it was quiet again, something he used to enjoy but now couldn't stand. Damon should be lazily relaxing on the couch opposite with a glass of bourbon in his hands and creating new nicknames for anyone that annoyed him. Stefan remembered back in the 1850's when they were young boys and they used to play football together. As the faster runner, Damon normally won. _If only you were faster this time_ , Stefan thought. Then maybe he'd still be in Mystic Falls with his friends and not working as an auto mechanic dodging his friend's calls because being reminded of his old life was too painful for him to cope with.

* * *

"It's me… again. I got bored of going through Alaric's books looking for a cure when I realised I hadn't called you in a while. I know you'll call back when you have the time…" _There was Caroline's trademark positivity_ , Stefan thought. "I was just hoping there was a chance you'd pick up this time so I could tell you about my terrible day but I guess that's not happening. I've been going through hundreds of grimoires but not a single one has told me anything about how to get Damon, Bonnie and Mystic Falls back and now I've wasted a whole summer trying to read their messy handwriting." He began to laugh at her frustration before stopping himself and slamming the phone back on his desk, cutting her off. He couldn't let himself laugh, he couldn't let himself miss her. He needed to move on and he couldn't do that if he spent his evening listening to her voice and reading her increasingly worried texts. Whatever he'd started to feel for her had to stop.

The next day he met Ivy.

* * *

Ivy soon became his girlfriend after he invited her out to dinner. She was nice, if a bit clingy. He'd spent the last three hours at her house having his lips attacked by her and listening to the seemingly endless stories of her past. She asked nothing about him which was really a plus but at the same time it was exhausting.

The phone began to ring. Without answering he knew it was her; everyone else had given up a long time ago except the occasional call from Alaric who still believed he was blindly chasing Witch covens across the country. He let it ring out before picking it up and staring at her name, picturing her sitting in her dorm room and talking into her own phone. He'd completely ignored her last three voicemails but after the day he'd had he couldn't resist the chance to hear her voice.

"Hey again." She said and an unwelcome smile immediately stretched across his face. "I guess it's getting stupid and pointless leaving all these messages here when you're obviously not going to answer anytime soon, I just really wish you would. I miss you, Stefan, I miss you so much. You made everything easy and without you it's falling apart. We're falling apart, all of us. Matt and Jeremy won't even leave Mystic Falls anymore and Elena's become so distant. I know we're all finding different ways to grieve but dealing with it on our own isn't going to get us anywhere. We need friends right now and I need you. I need my Vampire Mentor and even if you don't want to admit it I think you need us too. Please call me, or better yet, come home."

That was the last of her messages he listened to.

* * *

Two months later and Stefan didn't mind the silence anymore. He'd built a wall between his past and his life now and she was securely fixed on the other side. Until she showed up for the dinner party from hell.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: As always, thanks for the reviews! This chapter is linked to the last one with the phone messages but this time it's Stefan calling Caroline after she turns her humanity back on and leaves for a bit in season 6.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

"It's Caroline, but duh. You knew that, because you called. So, leave a message, and I'll call you back. Bye!" Stefan smiled to himself at the happiness in her voice. It had been so long since he'd heard her like that, sweet and innocent. Utterly Caroline. Since Liz passed away her voice had been sad and sorrowful or harsh and bitter.

"Hey, Caroline, It's me, obviously. I know that you went through a lot with your mom and everything that's happened since and I understand that you need time to heal, I just… miss you. You're my friend, I want to know that you're okay or at least know where you are. Please come back." He set his phone back down and picked up the leather covered diary he'd written in almost every night since his transformation over a century and a half ago. He opened it up to the most recently used page where he'd talked about his humanity-less rampage with Caroline, their mostly unsuccessful attempts to get her back and his mother's return.

He poised his pen over the pages before stopping and groaning. What could he write? Dear Diary, I spent the day sitting at my desk, staring into space and waiting for Caroline to miraculously show up? If Damon ever read that he would never hear the end of it.

He put the pen back and resumed his activity of staring at nothing in particular.

* * *

After the moping came anger. Anger at himself for letting her leave. Anger at his mother for her care free attitude. If she didn't want to care about her own son's lives, that was fine. Stefan just wished she'd go somewhere else to not care and stop waltzing around the place like she owned it. He was angry at Elena and Damon for having each other and snuggling up on the couch together every night. It was as if they were openly mocking him with their perfect and, at the moment, rather sickening relationship. Lastly, he was angry at the world for giving Liz Forbes cancer. She didn't deserve it and her daughter sure as hell didn't either. The Forbes family were far from perfect but they were happy and bright and some of the kindest people Stefan had ever met. No one deserved what they had had to deal with, especially not them.

"Caroline, it's me again." He said into the phone after her past, cheery voice told him to leave a message as if she was going to listen to it. "I'm just calling to tell you… well, I don't really know what I want to tell you. I just want to hear your voice and know that you're okay. I know you're strong and that you can deal with anything but I can't deal with not knowing where you are and how you're doing. Care, please call me. Let me know that you're okay."

* * *

The third day was desperation.

Damon came into his room to tell him that Jo and Alaric, whose romance had become just as painful to him as Elena and Damon's, had chosen a date for their wedding. They found him sitting on his favourite chair with his laptop open completely engrossed in what he was reading.

"The news?" Damon asked, raising a dark eyebrow. "Don't you have bigger issues right now than…" he paused for a moment to check the screen. "An animal attack?"

"I was seeing if I could find any signs of Caroline." He admitted, clicking on a link to some missing hikers.

"If Caroline's humanity's back on she'll probably be back to her golden girl routine." Damon tried to tell him gently. "And look, these bodies haven't been drained of blood. This wasn't a vampire, just an animal."

Stefan shook his head in denial and continued clicking on links. "Caroline just killed her way through most of Whitmore. She's never drank that much blood before, her control's bound to be slipping."

"Stefan, Caroline's got more control than any vampire I've ever met. It's not that surprising, she got taught by you. You aren't going to find anything there, she'll come back when she's ready."

* * *

And that brought about the next day. Hope.

"Caroline, hi. I'm just calling to fill you in on everything that's been going on lately. Alaric and Jo asked me to invite you to their wedding next week. It's been well planned, you'll approve when you get here. I'm hoping that's soon by the way. My mother, if I can even call her that, has been driving me crazy. Anyway, I'll see you soon. Bye."

* * *

A few hours away, Caroline smiled to herself, her first smile in a long time, at the sound of his voice and the hope in it. He believed in her. He still cared about her after everything she'd done and all that she'd ruined. And besides, no one could plan a wedding as well as she could. She was going home.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Sorry this took me longer than normal, my teachers give me way too much homework. I was watching Season 3 (again) the other day and got depressed (again) over the serious and devastating lack of Steroline. This one is set in Season 3 after they locked Stefan up to get his humanity back. Please keep giving me reviews!**

* * *

Stefan had been slumped in this uncomfortable chair for hours with his arms handcuffed and his legs cramping up. His fangs and gums were aching and all he could think about was draining some unfortunate stranger's body of its blood thanks to Lexi's mind tricks. His fantasy of blood was interrupted as he heard the sound soft footsteps heading down the stairs and he immediately sat up straighter.

"Damon!" He yelled, his voice hoarse and exhausted from his lack of sleep. "Damon, let me out of here!" He frantically kicked the bottom of the indestructible chair with the heels of his shoes which had been almost completely worn through in the past couple of hours. The wooden door creaked open and Caroline poked her head through cautiously.

"Hi Stefan." She said awkwardly, not quite sure what to do. She was carrying a small carrier back which Stefan's eyes immediately fixed on as the sweet scent of blood filled the dark, musty room. As she pulled out the blood bag the veins under his eyes crawled down his cheeks.

"Here." She said, unlocking his right handcuff so he could drain it which he did so in 10 seconds. "Don't tell Damon about that by the way. You know him, he'll probably kill me."

Stefan nodded absentmindedly, his bloodshot eyes focused on the crumpled blood bag clenched in his fist. Caroline quickly stepped towards him and tugged it away, aware that Stefan's eyes were following her around the room as she stuffed it back in her bag and picked up the handcuff key again.

"You gonna lock me back up again?" Stefan asked. Caroline looked back at him. No matter what he'd done recently he was still her best friend, the person who had stood by her during everything she'd had to deal with over the last year like waking up with fangs and an unquenchable thirst for blood. Yes, he had probably killed nearly a hundred people over the summer and completely ditched her but he did it to save his brother and she wasn't going to hold that over him. She was going to help him.

"No."

* * *

Half an hour later they were walking side by side down the familiar path they always used to use before Stefan left when they went hunting bunnies. She had no idea what she was doing or what her plan was but she couldn't leave him alone there. She knew what it was like: the sunlight burning holes in your skin and the smell of vervain scratching the back of your throat. She couldn't leave him there.

"So did you know your family has a prison cell dedicated to torturing vampires?" Stefan asked her. Caroline was surprised for a moment that he hadn't heard about what her dad did but it quickly passed. Why would he care? He didn't even care about his own brother. But every so often Caroline would spot him at school and steal quick glances in his direction and sometimes she wouldn't see the ripper, she'd see her best friend.

"Yeah, I found out a while back." She replied casting her eyes downwards. Stefan could tell she wasn't telling the whole truth but didn't question it. Instead, he continued his steady pace through the dark trees blocking them from the sunlight. He could hear slight rustling in the bushes nearby and the slow, drumming heartbeats of different animals.

"Please tell me you did not think killing bunnies with you was going to snap my humanity back on." He told her cruelly, raising an eyebrow. Caroline's cheeks flushed red in annoyance.

"You don't need to be tortured and starved, you need to be reminded of who you used to be." She told him.

"Good luck with that, then." He said. "I thought you didn't drink animal blood anymore?"

"I don't, I keep getting fur in my teeth. But if you want to become yourself again you need to ditch the human blood."

"I don't want to go back, Caroline." He said but she knew him too well to believe him. She knew his serious vampire look, she knew his worried vampire look and she knew his 'hey, it's Tuesday' look. His voice wasn't the deep, honest one she had grown used to last year but she could still tell when he was lying.

"You do though." She told him. "You're still there, Stefan. I've seen it. All you have to do is turn it on and everything will be fine, I promise." She pleaded, stopping and standing in front of him. "Please come back to me. I miss you." For a moment she thought he was going to cave in. All his supressed emotions flashed through his green, forest eyes.

"I can't." Stefan said, shaking his head, the steeliness coming back into his eyes. "Not after what I've done. All the people I've killed."

"We've all killed people before." Caroline reasoned. "It'll be fine, you'll have me, Damon and Elena…" Stefan glanced down. "Damon and Elena." She realised.

"Like I said, I can't go back."

"They're just friends." She tried to reassure him. Stefan looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Look, let's forget Damon and Elena, okay? You still look thirsty."

"That's what happens when your brother locks up you up without blood for a week."

"It's not fun." Caroline agreed laughing softly. Seeing Stefan's questioning gaze again, she sighed. "While you were with Klaus my dad found out what I was. He didn't take it well."

"He locked you up?" He asked and she was amazed by how human he sounded, like his old, caring self.

"Yep." She replied, her voice squeaky like she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Stefan said honestly.

* * *

The sun had set by the time Stefan and Caroline entered the vervain smelling cellar again. Caroline nervously rolled the key between her pale, slender fingers and glanced up at Stefan.

"Are you sure you want me to lock you back up?" She asked nervously. Stefan nodded. He knew she needed to or Damon would kill her for letting him out.

"I'll be fine but first…" he raised a hand to her cheek and wiped away the small smudge of red there. "You have blood on your cheek."

"Stupid bunnies." Caroline joked, laughing nervously as his hand rested on her cheek.

"Thank you." He whispered. "I felt like myself for a while back there." He gently pressed his lips against her forehead and sat down in the seat while Caroline locked him back up.

"I'll see you soon." She promised. "I'll get you back."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Thank you once again to everyone who reads and reviews this (Please keep on doing so). Sorry, this one also took longer than expected. This one is set just after Season 6 Episode 14 when Liz died.**

* * *

Physically, Caroline was dead. That was a fact she'd accepted long ago. She'd accepted that she'd never properly feel the sun on her skin again and that there would always be a part of her that would be longing to bite into someone's neck and feed until there wasn't a drop of blood left. But she'd never truly felt that she was dead inside before.

Now she felt just as dead as her mother's body that was lying on the hospital bed in front of her.

She could vaguely hear her friends behind her while she sobbed into her mother's limp arms. Stefan's hand was gently rubbing her shoulders and Elena was quietly crying while Damon comforted her. Doctor's had begun hustling into the room around her but she clung onto her mother. She couldn't let her go, not yet. Liz Forbes was supposed to have decades left of her life. None of this was supposed to happen, especially not to her.

* * *

An hour later she was standing outside the hospital leaning against a birch tree with her head tilted back and her stinging eyes closed to avoid more tears spilling down her cheeks. She had needed to get out of the hospital, everywhere she looked she could see death. The hospital was where she had been suffocated by Katherine, it was where her father had been hunted down and stabbed by Alaric and now it was where her mom had finally succumbed to the illness that had been eating away at her brain.

"Caroline?" She looked up to see Stefan approaching her cautiously, concern etched on his face.

"Hi." She croaked, her voice still hoarse.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm okay." Her voice was quiet and Stefan raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You don't need to pretend with me, remember?" Caroline nodded but remained silent. She didn't want to talk about the fact that her mom was dead. She could barely think about it without breaking down into yet more tears.

They stood together in silence for a while longer watching strangers enter and exit the hospital. She tried to distract herself by listening to their conversations with her vampire hearing. It was an invasion of privacy, she knew that, but she would do anything to get the image of her mother's pale, lifeless corpse out of her head. Sobbing reached her ears and she tuned into a young woman crying that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. A few months ago she would have been positive that she'd survive and all would be right in the world. Previous experiences had taught her against such delusional optimism. It only made for a larger fall into reality.

"How did you do it? After your mother died?" Caroline asked him suddenly, remembering what Stefan had said about his mom dying when he was young.

"Do what?"

"Continue living." She replied.

"It took a long time." Stefan told her. "I thought about her every waking moment and dreamed of her at night. But at the end of day, I was able to continue my life. I'm not saying I forgot her, I still think of her, but I'm no longer devastated by her death. And one day, you'll be able to think of her and your lives together happily. She's at peace." Caroline listened to all this. It sounded completely ridiculous now, the idea of peace and the thought of her ever being okay with Liz Forbes no longer with her but she trusted Stefan. She'd get through this. There was no alternative.

"Caroline?" Stefan asked, trying to capture her attention once more. She looked up at him with her damaged blue eyes. "You know you're welcome to stay at the boarding house, you don't need to go home right away." Caroline nodded. She couldn't call it home anymore. Home was where her family was and now she didn't have any. It was simply a house holding painful memories.

"Can I?" She asked. "Just for a bit while I sort out the funeral and…everything?" Something else she needed to ignore: the alarmingly large, rapidly increasing list of arrangements that had to be made for when she was to say goodbye.

* * *

Stefan and Caroline arrived back at the Salvatore Boarding House a short while later to find Elena, Matt and Tyler sitting on various couches in the living room. Even Damon was there, standing somewhat awkwardly behind Elena with his usual glass of bourbon clutched in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" She asked them, managing to hold herself together at the sight of her friends all in the same room. She couldn't remember the last time that happened. Maybe there was something good in the dark place they seemed to be trapped in for eternity.

"Where else would we be?" Matt asked her, a forced smile on his face which clashed with the unshed tears welling up in his soft blue eyes.

"Your mom was here for me and Jer when our parents died." Elena told her. "We're going to be here for you."

"You were right." Tyler continued. "We need to stick together." More tears slipped down Caroline's cheek as she pulled Elena, Matt and Tyler into a hug, burying her exhausted head in Elena's shoulder. As she pulled away she saw Stefan still watching her, offering her a reassuring smile. He wrapped his arms around her too and pressed a quick kiss against her forehead as he stroked her soft, curly hair.

"It'll be okay." He whispered and Caroline knew she'd be fine.

* * *

At least she thought she would be. She didn't really know what happened on the day of the funeral but the sight of her mother's dead body was too much for her to handle. That paired with the rejection from Stefan, Damon's not-so-encouraging pep talk and her silent house that she couldn't call home anymore caused her to break. And, suddenly, there wasn't any good in her dark place, only devastation which was something she'd had more than enough of for one lifetime. There was an alternative, she realised. She could turn it all off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hello again! I realised I hadn't done anything for season four yet so this one (which is ridiculously short, sorry) is set when Stefan is staying at Caroline's house after breaking up with Elena. Please keep reviewing!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries**

* * *

The second Stefan walked out of the Salvatore Boarding House after his awkward encounter with Elena and Damon, he knew where he was going to go. His life had just changed forever: Elena had left him and his own brother was probably with her right now. The world as he knew it had just crumbled into pieces but he knew for sure that one part of his life had remained with him. The person who had been with him for years and had helped him through everything he couldn't deal with himself.

He found himself standing on the porch outside the small, chalky yellow house and knocked quietly on the front door, hoping she would be in. As he waited for her to answer he realised that he couldn't remember the last time he had been this desperate for anyone else's company. He never liked to admit when he needed help, not even to his brother, but even he couldn't deny that his chances of getting through this were higher with her next to him. Besides, she hated the thought of Damon and Elena together just as much as he did.

Through the window he could see her walking down the hallway towards him still wearing the gold glittery dress from the Miss Mystic Falls pageant earlier. She eyed him cautiously; ever since Elena broke up with him he had alternating between depression and wanting to rip into someone's artery. He offered her a weak smile as she opened up the door.

"Stefan, hi." She greeted him.

"Hey." He answered quietly before pausing as if he was about to ask something else.

"Are you okay?" She asked sympathetically. Normally Stefan would hate any persistent questioning like Caroline always smothered him with, but surprisingly he didn't mind it when she was the one doing the asking. It reminded him that she cared even if no one else seemed to at the moment. He hadn't felt like that with anyone since Lexi was alive. When he was with Elena there was always that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him she would fall for Damon and leave him on his own. With Caroline he knew he'd never be alone.

"I'm fine." He lied. "Elena's staying back at the boarding house though, now that Jeremy wants to kill us all, so I was wondering if I could stay here so it doesn't get..."

"Awkward?" Caroline supplied for him knowingly.

"Yeah." He agreed. She moved aside to let Stefan into the house and they walked to the living room decorated with photos of Caroline and her mom and a vase of flowers on the table. Stefan could never get over how homely and comforting the Forbes' house was. The sunny yellow walls and bright furniture was a huge contrast to the dark colours and moody atmosphere he was used to after a century and a half in the Salvatore House.

"Is your mom home?" He said her as he settled onto the couch he'd become so accustomed to over the years.

"Not yet, she's still at work. You seem better." Stefan realised that he did indeed feel a lot better now he was with her, Caroline seemed to have that effect on him.

"I am." He answered honestly.

Still seeming unconvinced, she continued in her soft, caring voice. "Look, Stefan, I know I'm Elena's best friend but I'm also yours and you deserve more than a girlfriend who's going to fall in love with your brother." They flinched at her tactless words but Stefan brushed it off and looked down at his hands that were clasped together in a mixture of anger and upset.

"Yet it's all I seem to get." He said miserably and, Caroline admitted, truthfully. He was the kindest person she had ever met, he stuck by her side when she became a vampire and had stayed there ever since. He had survived vampirism and his ripper side while staying good and if anyone deserved to be happy it was him.

"It won't be that way forever." She promised him. Noticing the tears beginning to pool in his enchanting, green eyes, she sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. He leant against her as she gently stroked his famous hero-hair and cried softly into her shoulder. "Everything will be okay."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I'm sorry I've not updated but I do have reasons that aren't my own sheer laziness involving torturous holidays with no internet, power cuts and a computer that can't do anything right. Anyway, this is set just after Caroline becomes a vampire. Please keep reviewing!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

His name was Carter, she thought as she read the missing poster that had just been posted on the side of the street. She hadn't even known his name. But that wasn't the most haunting thing written there. What Caroline's eyes were lingering on was his age. He was only 19 years old.

The past few days had been crazy. She'd been suffocated by a 500 year old vampire who looked exactly like her best friend and woken up in a world where the town she lived in was crawling with vampires and werewolves and witches. She'd wrapped her head around the fact that she was a vampire and that Bonnie wasn't lying and attention-seeking before, she really was a witch. But what she couldn't handle was that she had killed someone. Carter had done nothing except be in the wrong place at the wrong time and she had killed him and enjoyed it.

"Caroline?" She spun around, half expecting to see Katherine looming over her but instead found herself looking into Stefan's forest green eyes. She let out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"You scared me." She mumbled accusingly, still getting over the jumpy, jittery feeling she'd had since she'd woken up in the hospital.

"What happened to staying inside until you've learnt to control your urges?" he asked as she turned back to the missing poster.

"I don't need to do everything Damon says anymore." She replied bitterly, remembering the weeks she had spent doing every single thing he asked that had begun trickling into her brain the second she started the transition. Stefan stood beside her and looked at the missing poster she had been so engrossed in.

"What's going to happen to me?" she said, the anger leaking out of her voice as it began to shake instead. "Will it happen again? I don't want to kill anyone else."

"I'm going to help you. You'll be fine as long as you learn to control your bloodlust." He promised her.

"So you've never killed anyone?" Caroline asked. Stefan paused and glanced down the street at the Mystic Grill.

"Do you want some food?" he asked. "We can talk properly. And it can help cure the cravings." Stefan gestured at the brightly lit building and she smiled at him gratefully as she followed him towards the Grill.

* * *

Half an hour later the two vampires were sat in the dark corner of the room munching happily on a plate of fries and talking in hushed voices so an unfortunate waitress didn't stumble into a conversation involving vampirism, murder and werewolves.

"Better?" Stefan asked as Caroline helped herself to more food.

"Yeah, it really helps cure the cravings. Is it normal to be hungry all the time?"

"Well, none of this is really normal but it should go away with time." He told her, smiling sadly at the thought of the best friend that had helped him for the last century and a half doing exactly what he was doing now. He'd once had this exact conversation with Lexi when she was trying to get his bloodlust under control.

"How much time? I mean, you're 150 years old. You probably think 10 years is a blink of an eye."

"When you live for hundreds of years, your perspective of time changes. I know it's daunting right now but you'll get used to it. How long it takes varies from vampire to vampire."

"How long did it take you?" She asked softly, sensing he was holding something back. Stefan hesitated. Telling her what had happened to him wouldn't be a great confidence booster but there was something about the way she was looking at him that made him want to confide in her. Something that reminded him of Lexi.

"It took me a bit longer than most vampires." He admitted, avoiding her blue-eyed gaze. "The blood was too much for me. I couldn't stop myself and I killed… a lot of people. Including my father. " He finished, not wanting to get into the various towns he ripped apart all across America.

"Your father?" Caroline repeated, shocked. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked…"

Stefan shook his head at her, cutting her off. "It's fine. You're one of us now, you should know everything."

"Okay then." She said thoughtfully. "Who's Katherine? Do you know her?"

"She was living with me and Damon in 1864. She's the vampire who turned us." Stefan answered.

"1864? What did you do to make her that angry for 145 years?" Stefan sighed, finding himself short of answers once again. He'd been keeping an eye on Caroline ever since she'd started seeing Damon. At first it was just to stop innocent blood being spilled but after a while he found himself wanting to keep her alive because he knew he'd miss her if something happened. He'd failed miserably at keeping her safe and now he couldn't even explain why her happy, normal life had been ripped away from her.

"We'll find out." He assured her while trying to convince himself. How was he supposed to outsmart Katherine when she always seemed to be one step ahead?

"I want to help." She said determinedly. Stefan raised an eyebrow at her. Over the last few days she'd become shoulder deep in his supernatural troubles. He didn't want to drag her down any further.

"Caroline, you don't have to…"

"Yes I do." She looked him in the eye stubbornly. "You've helped me so much, let me help you."

"Are you sure?" Caroline nodded. "Then welcome to the team" And to his surprise he was grinning as he looked up at his future best friend.


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors note: Hello again. This is set after season 7 episode 3 after Caroline escapes the Heretics and goes to see Stefan.**

"Do you really remember the first time you saw me?" Stefan asked, after half an hour of bourbon and struggling against the temptation to hold Caroline's hand or stroke her curly hair out of her face. Caroline flushed in embarrassment as she always did when they talked about when she was human and had thrown herself at him and she began tapping her nails nervously against her glass.

"Yeah." She answered. "I was standing in the corridor and you walked past me in your black leather jacket." She had been breath taken by him and immediately began running over ideas of how to flirt with him. Those fantasies had immediately been put down when Stefan rejected her and sitting here with him now could still seem a little surreal at times.

"Wow. You weren't kidding about remembering me." He said, surprised and with a nagging feeling of guilt that he hadn't noticed her that day. "I remember when we were at the party." Caroline groaned.

"I've changed my mind, I'd rather you just forgot that entire day completely." She decided, humiliated. "I'm amazed that you didn't ignore me completely after that."

"If it helps, I made some huge mistakes that day too." Stefan said, smiling at her. "Like when I told you we were never going to happen and brushed you aside. That turned out to be very wrong."

"It did?" Caroline asked, grinning as she realised that the moment she had been waiting for for years was hopefully about to happen.

"It did. Caroline Forbes, after we've blackmailed some Heretics into taking away the spell they put on you, would you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" He gazed into her eyes, praying she was going to say yes and deciding that he'd wait for her even if she needed decades longer to be ready for him.

"Seriously? You really think the answer is going to be anything other than a yes?" She asked incredulously, seeing the flash of doubt cross his face as he waited for her reaction. "Yes, Stefan Salvatore, I will be your girlfriend." They smiled at each other somewhat awkwardly.

"If our lives were normal, we'd be kissing right now." Stefan sighed. "We really need to buy a visit to Lily's new family." Caroline looked at him sympathetically, wishing she could hold his hand. Her and Liz had had their disagreements over the years, but she couldn't imagine having a mother who hated your guts.

"I'm kind of glad our lives aren't normal though." She said. "If I hadn't been turned into a vampire I'd never have become your friend."

"But you'd still be alive." Stefan pointed out.

"I feel alive now." Caroline argued, sitting as close to him as she possibly could without burning him.

"Me too." Stefan admitted. "And you know what? It doesn't matter what happened before you turned because we've both changed so much since we've known each other. What matters is where we are now. And I do remember the first time I saw you as you are now. Damon was about to kill you and you were covered in tears and blood. And the next day you became my best friend."

"I could live to 5000 and never forget that day. Especially the part where we were chased by a werewolf."


End file.
